Members of the Jewish fire brigade in the Kovno ghetto pose outside around their fire vehicle.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 81140

Overview

Caption: Members of the Jewish fire brigade in the Kovno ghetto pose outside around their fire vehicle.

Among those pictured is Yankel Kaplan (at the far right).
Photographer: George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin
Date: 1944
Locale: Kaunas, Lithuania
Variant Locale: Kauen
Kovno
Kowno
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin
Event History: The Kovno ghetto fire department was made up of former volunteer firemen. Though their main purpose was to put out fires, the ghetto firemen spent most of their time on an array of other tasks including maintaining the ghetto fence, burying the dead, transporting the sick to ghetto hospitals and retrieving valuables hidden in wells for transfer to ghetto authorities.

See https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005174
See Also "Kauen Main Camp" in Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos Volume 1 Part A.

Photo Source: USHMM (Restricted)

Copyright: Exclusively with provenance

Provenance: George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin

Source Record ID: Collections: CR 1503.030

Keyword: ARMBANDS BADGES BADGES (STAR OF DAVID) FIRE FIGHTERS/BRIGADES GHETTO/OCCUPATION GROUP PORTRAITS JEWS (LITHUANIAN) KOVNO
Photo Designation: GHETTOS (MAJOR) -- KOVNO (Lithuania) -- Ghetto Administration -- Firefighters